Your Support is Helping Enhance the Family Birthing Center
In Swedish Hospital’s Birthing Center, a good night’s sleep is priceless, just ask Eva Peroulas, Clinical Nurse Manager of the Family Birthing Center. Every day she is asked by weary husbands and family members for more comfortable chairs or beds to provide a place to rest next to the new moms and moms-to-be. Thanks to the generosity of our donors, the proceeds from our 2018 Gala have made this yawn-laden request a reality. Twenty-seven, sleeper sofas are now happily being used in rooms throughout the Family Birthing Center.
As Eva explains, “If the support person is not getting enough sleep, then they’re not able to help the mother. This is our biggest problem. With the addition of hospital-grade sleeper sofas providing a comfortable place to rest, the family member has the energy to support the mom, and the mom in turn, feels that their family is taken care of, feels less stressed and is better able to focus on herself and the baby”.
Sleeper sofas are just one of the enhancements scheduled for the Family Birthing Center. Eva notes that SCH is dedicated to emphasizing the “Family” in Family Birthing Center by dedicating 2018 Gala funds to create spaces where family members can relax and feel comfortable. Additional upcoming enhancements include:
Converting a current staff conference room into a more comfortable waiting room with large windows and tables where family members to eat and relax. Currently, there is no area where visitors can enjoy a meal outside of the patient’s room.
A Nourishment Room- complete with a coffee machine, refrigerator, microwave and an ice machine. It will be an area where family can store food or warm up a meal.
The Nursing Station will have window partitions to help muffle the noise that comes from the area. Since it is located directly across from patient rooms, lessening the sounds that come from this station will helps create a more serene environment for the mom and their family members.
The current waiting area will be transformed into an antepartum testing area used by outpatient moms who arrive for testing. Currently, all testing is done in 2 triage rooms, but an additional room will provide more moms faster service and will lessen the stressful time waiting for a procedure to be performed.
Staff members of the Family Birthing Center and their patient families are delighted with the current upgrades and excited about the dramatic new additions. Funding from our generous donors and gala attendees has turned patient ideas and requests into real answers –enhancing patient’s health and putting a focus on the “family” experience. As Eva proudly states, “We go far beyond treating the patient with medication. The Family Birthing Center enhancements demonstrate SCH’s commitment to out-of the-box thinking”. This project was made possible through the financial support of our donors, gala attendees and corporate donors.
This year’s Gala, Tropical Paradise, will benefit the Cardiology Department. For more information on the upcoming gala or ways in which to donate, please contact schfoundation@schosp.org or call 773-989-6246.